CENTOMIGLIA

The Centomiglia is a renowned Lake Garda sailing regatta held every September. It sets off from and returns to the town of Gargnano and is the longest inland regatta in Europe. The 69th edition was staged in 2019, which means this is also the longest-lived regatta in Italy! The first edition was organised by the members of the Circolo Vela e Motore Gargnano club, which later became the Circolo Vela Gargnano (www.centomiglia.it). The debut race took place on 8–9 September 1951, with 17 competing boats, and was won by the 6m International Tonnage Airone with helmsman Umberto Peretti Colò representing the Venetian Compagnia della Vela. The organisers of the event chose its name in homage to the famous Mille Miglia car race that involved a Brescia to Rome round trip (www.1000miglia.it). The Centomiglia competition is based on a similar free system of participation, with various classes that depend on length and type (monohull or multihull). The route covers about 60 nautical miles and is diversified by class, departing from the port at Bogliaco, a district of Gargnano, proceeding up the lake as far as Torbole, then heading south to Desenzano and closing with the return to Bogliaco. Rankings and trophies are calculated both on real and compensated time. A significant number of competitors enter the race and in the most recent editions there have been about 200 hulls at the start, while the best years registered in excess of 300 vessels (in 1999 there were 347 crews from 18 countries). In 1993, Giorgio Zuccoli skippered Dimore del Garda, a 12.7m Classe Libera del Garda, with a crew of 12 aboard, finishing first overall in 6 hours and 5 minutes: a record no one has beaten yet for monohulls. In 2018, The Red – Quantum Extreme 40 maxi catamaran, with Miklos Rauschenberger at the helm, made the Bogliaco finish line in 5 hours and 35 minutes, setting the multihull record.